Hinge construction for toilet seats



March 23, 1954 P. J. SPERZEL HINGE CONSTRUCTION FOR TOILET SEATS Filed Feb. 16, 1951 Zhwento;

attorneys :5. ivzzulua Patented Mar. 23 1954 mNGn'coNsraUc'rIoN FOB 'rornii'r' sEA'rs- Peter J. Spergel, Minneapolis, Minn., assignor to Sperzel Company,- Minneapolis, Minn., acorporation of Minnesota Application February 16,1951, Serial No. 211,385

.1 My invention relates to improvements in toilet seats and, more particularly, to novel means for pivotally securing the toilet seats to the toilet frequently and particularly under conditions of frequent use, a lateral shifting of the seat with respect to the bearing brackets (resulting in axial movement of the pintles with respect to said bearing brackets) results in the weight of the user being carried too far out on one of said -3 Claims. (Cl. 4-240) pintles. This results in bending of the pintles and even in the breaking loose of said pintles from the toilet seat in which they are imbedded.

The primary object of my invention is the provision of novel means for positively locking said :hinge pintles or pivot pins, with respect to said bearing brackets, free from axial movements, when said bearing brackets are retained in extremely close proximity to or preferably even in engagement with the toilet seat.

A still further object of my invention is the provision of extremely simple and inexpensive means for accomplishing same, which may be assembled and disassembled with a minimum of effort and in a minimum of time, and which is positive in its action and durable in use.

A still further object of my invention is the provision of a device of the class described, which is more sanitary than any device heretofore developed, in view of the fact that substantially all parts and openings are sealed.

The above and still further objects of my invention will become apparent from the following detailed specificatio appended claims. and attached drawings.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several v ews:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of my novel structure mounted on a conventional toilet bowl;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation on the same scale as Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section, taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary section, taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2 and Fig. 5 is a view in perspective-of the locking element of my novel device. I a f,

Referring with greater particularity to :the drawings, the numeral [indicates a conventional toilet bowl having a reduced rearwardly-projecting portion 2, the side edge portions of'which provide anchoring flanges 3. A toilet bowl cover element 4, shown as being in the nature of a conventional seat, is, provided with a reduced portion 5 projectingrearwardly therefrom. Projecting laterally outwardly from opposite side edges 5 of the rearwardly-proiecting. portion} in opposite directions are a-pair of aligned hinge pintles or pivot pins 1, the inner ends of which are imbedded or otherwise rigidly secured to said portion '5. At their intermediate portions, the pintle pins 1 are provided with a pair of axiallyspaced annular grooves 8, and, 9, which provide circumferentially-extended stop shoulders 10.

A pair of bearing brackets H, preferably and as shown in the nature of inverted cup-like caps, are adapted to be received upon" the anchoring flange 3 of the toilet bowl I, whereby to rotatably receive one each of thehinge pintles 1. Also,

' preferably and as shown, the bearing brackets II are provided with apertures I2 in one wall which extend therethrough and a with aligned recesses 13 which extend only partially therethrough.

Apertures l2 and I3 provide laterally-spaced bearing surfaces 14 for the hinge pintles 1.

A pair of locking plates l5, preferably and as shown, are joined together as at It and are provided along their upper edges l1 with segmental notches l8 adapted to snugly receive the hinge pintles 1 one each within annular grooves 8 and 9. It will be noted that bearing brackets II are extremely closely positioned with respect to the portion 5 of the toilet seat 4, preferably in frictional engagement therewith when the locking plates I 5 are within the grooves 8 and 9. This close relationship of parts, assuring a maximum of sanitation, is maintained by engagement of the locking plate I5 within the groove 9 with the wall of the bearing bracket H having the aperture 12 therein-and also by engagement of said locking plate with the shoulder I0 provided by the groove 9. A pair of anchoring bolts l9 extend loosely through openings 20 in the anchoring flange 3. The upper ends of anchoring bolts l9 extend upwardly into the bearing brackets H intermediate said grooves 8 and 9 and have hooks 2| which overlie the hinge pintles 1 intermediate the grooves 8 and :9. At their lower ends, the anchoring bolts l9 are threaded to receive nuts 22 which exert yielding bias against the hinge pintles 1 through the medium of compression springs 23, the opposite ends of which are received within opposed cup-shaped elements 24. Suitable washer elements 25 may be interposed between the uppermost cup 24 and the bottom of the anchoring flange 3 and also between the bottom of the bearing brackets II and the top of said anchoring flange 3. It will be noted that the bottomportions of the locking plates 1-5 terminate immediately adjacent the upper surface of the anchoring flange 3, whereby said locking; plates I5 are securely retained in position by the yielding bias exerted by the clamping'bol-ts 1'9.

My invention has been thoroughly tested and,

found to be completely satisiaetofry for theac complishment of the above objects; and, while 1 have disclosed a preferred embodiment of my invention, in compliance with United States Statutes, Section 4888, it should be obvious that the same is capable of modification without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention a defined by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A device for pivotally securing a toilet bowl cover element to a toilet bowl having arearwardly projecting anchoring flange, comprising axially aligned pintles projecting from opposite sides of the rear end portion of the cover ele- -ment, each of said pintles being provided with a pair of axially spaced annular grooves whose opposed radial walls provide annular shoulders,

a bearing bracket for each of said pintles of inverted cup-like form including parallel inner and outer wall portions in spaced relation axially of the pintleand whose edge is adapted to bear upon said anchoring flange, the innerwall portion being provided with an aperture and the outer wall portion being provided with a recess opening through the inner face thereof, said aperture and said recess providing bearings for the pintle immediately adjacent said stop shoulders, a pair of locking platesdisposable within the bearing bracket adjacent the inner faces of the inner and outer ,wall portions thereof, the

lower edges of said plates being supported on said anchoring flange and upper edge portions thereof being receivable within said groovesand engageable with said stop shoulders-and an anchoring 4 bolt loosely extendible through an opening in said anchoring flange and provided with a head portion engageable with the pintle intermediate the grooves therein for drawing the bearing bracket and locking plates into firm position on the anchoring flange.

2. The structure accordingto claim, 1, wherein saidlocking plates are rectangular legportions of a unitary U-shaped member, and said edge por- ,tions of the locking plates being provided with segmental notches whose edges are engageable With'the cylindrical walls of the grooves.

3. Thestructure according to claim 1, wherein said anchoring bolt includes an elongated threaded shank extendible through said opening in said anchoring flange and for substantial projection below the'lower "face of the anchoring flange, a washer for encircling said threaded shank and for bearing upon said lower face of the anchoring flange, an inverted cup-shaped element having its base engageable with said washer, asec- 0nd, cup-shaped element for encircling said threaded shank in opposing relation to thefirst cup-shaped element, a coil spring for encircling ,said threaded shank with its opposite ends disposable within said cup-shaped elements, and a nut for engaging said threaded shank and engageable with the base of said second cup-shaped element for tensioning saidspring and yieldably retaining said bearing bracket and, said locking plates, in pintle supporting position.

PETER J .SPERZEL. 

